Chase Rice signs with Columbia Nashville, sets sights on a summer album

Singer Chase Rice signs with Columbia Nashville, under the Sony Music Nashville umbrella.

Alan Poizner

Breakout star Chase Rice is ready and set to roll with a new partnership with Columbia Nashville. The label, coupled with Thirty Tigers and RED Distribution, will begin immediately to promote the singer's current Top 40 hit "Ready Set Roll" at radio, as announced on Thursday (March 27).

Rice independently released his Ready Set Roll EP through his own label, Dack Janiels LLC. The six-track set was produced by Chris DeStefano and Scott Cooke and has sold nearly 69,000 copies to-date. Following the digital release, the 28-year-old performer, along with his management company, Triple 8, hired RPM, an independent promotion staff, to set the charts on fire with the single. It has since garnered him major label interest.

Chairman & CEO of Sony Music Nashville Gary Overton shares in an official statement, “We are extremely excited about our new relationship with Chase and having him on our Columbia Nashville roster. He and his team have created a tremendous buzz about him, his music and his live shows and we are ready to help them break it wide open across the country.”

Rice chimes in, “It started out with me pounding the pavement and playing anywhere I could that involved reaching the fans. It’s grown into this really incredible entity where the #CRew spreads the word about our music and our shows for us. We’ve played based on where they demanded us—so when we were approached to take it to the next level, we knew we had to take advantage of the opportunity for them.”

Rice began his promising career with the 2012 release of "How She Rolls," which gained traction on Sirius XM The Highway. He then positioned himself as one of the most sought-after songwriters, penning the blockbuster smash "Cruise" by Florida Georgia Line.

Rice's manager, Bruce Kalmick adds, “This partnership really strengthens the backbone of Chase’s organization. We hope to leverage their promotional team’s passion to catapult his story on a grander scale both regarding sales and radio success.”

Rice's single "Ready Set Roll" debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes singles chart, shifting over 260,000 copies so far. A full album is expected this summer.